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View Full Version : May Supper Club Report - Northern California


Peggy
05-14-2001, 06:10 PM
Hi Everyone!

I apologize for not posting on this board more regularly. I will try to do better in the future. For our May meeting, our Supper Club took to the road! One of our original members moved 3 hours south of here last fall, but has come back to several of our dinners since then. This month she invited us to all come down for the weekend and was brave enough to put us all up at her new home! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif She had a house full and we had a great time!! Here is our menu and reviews:

Appetizer: Shrimp with Roasted Pepper-Horseradish Dip (May '00) We thought this was very good. We wimped out and only added 1 tablespoonful of prepared horseradish instead of the 3 that the recipe called for. About half of us thought it was just right as is, while a few brave souls longed for the other 2 tablespoonfuls!

Salad #1: Spinach-and Strawberry Salad (May '01) The majority thought this was good but the dressing was alittle too tart for some. Perhaps more sugar would help? One commented that the dressing seemed a bit thick. Maybe tossing everything together prior to serving would be better??? We felt that CL has had better Spinach and Strawberry salad recipes.

Salad #2: Orange-and-Radish Salad (May '01) I guess we were in the salad mood! It has been quite hot here so we had decided on two salads. This was refreshing and fairly easy to prepare...though the designated radish grater might argue that point! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif She felt it was a messy, tedious job! Overall, reviews were favorable.

Main Course: Sea Bass Crusted with Moroccan Spices (May'01) This recipe got some negative reviews on the other bulletin board but our entire group thought it was fantastic! We decided to BBQ the majority of it because we all like our fish on the grill but we did cook one piece over the stove to try Cindy's new pan. Both methods were successful and produced a delicious main course. The combination of seasonings were excellent and everyone thought it was outstanding. I was worried that the kids wouldn't like the spices but our most finicky daughter had two generous servings. My own daughter has an intense dislike of cilantro but she ate it without a complaint. An excellent fish recipe, in our humble opinions.

Side Dish: Vegetable Fried Rice with Pecans and Ginger (May '01) This was really good also. One person commented that it seemed too salty but everyone else liked it as is. Great seasonings and a good accompaniment to the fish.

Dessert #`1: Eating Well's Died and Gone to Heaven Chocolate Cake (Bulletin Board) - An incredible cake! Very moist with an intense chocolate flavor. Couldn't taste the coffee at all. After all of the positive reviews on the BB, we weren't surprised by the result. The cake was somewhat fragile when it was taken out of the pan, but we just used icing to cover the flaws!

Dessert #2: Cookies-and-Cream Ice Cream (May '01) - This was a big hit! The entire batch was eaten in no time at all. We didn't tell the husbands or kids that it was made with tofu until they were finished. They still don't believe us!! It was creamy and delicious. Yummy!!

The following morning we had hoped the husbands would come through and cook a special Mother's Day breakfast, but they treated us to brunch at a restaurant instead. Maybe that was a good thing, considering none of them are particularly gifted in the kitchen, (Tom excluded!).

We had a great weekend of good food, good friends, and good times! Thank you to Norm and Cindy for hosting us and sharing their new home and kitchen!! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Peggy

[This message has been edited by Peggy (edited 05-14-2001).]

Grace
05-14-2001, 06:52 PM
YEAH PEGGY! Thank you, thank you. I don't know why I get such a thrill reading about everyone else's menus. But I do. Especially yours! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

You all sound like you had a wonderful weekend. What a cool idea, to go to someone else's house for the whole weekend. And to think, this person was a complete stranger not that long ago, and you all met on the internet?! Whoulda thunk. But I think it's awesome. Your menu sounded great.

Our group is celebrating our one year anniversary this Wednesday - it was one year ago we had our first meeting. I'm bringing champagne to commemorate the event. We're having Chicken Tagine with lemons and olives, Greek Sandwich with Feta Vinaigrette, Herbed Mozzerella Wrap, Orange and Radish Salad, Pommes Anna (a weird accompianment, I know), and Butter-Rum Pudding and Double Ginger Cookies for dessert. I'll give the full report on Thursday!

Thanks again for taking the time to report on your group. I can't speak for everyone else, but you've made at least one person happy!

Angela
05-15-2001, 06:08 AM
I agree with you Grace, it is fun to see what other groups make, what they do during the dinner, etc. It's very nice because of the multiple reviews that can be read in one post!

LGBurns
05-15-2001, 10:06 AM
Peggy, thanks so much for posting. I'm not in a supper club right now, but I love reading all the reviews in one shot. Also, I'm from Northern California originally, so I was drawn to the post for that reason too. Where in N. Cal. is your group located?

Peggy
05-16-2001, 05:00 PM
LGBurns,

Our Supper Group is in Redding, California. I am originally from the SF Bay Area and have lived here for almost 4 years. Come to think of it, everyone in our group has moved up from the Bay Area. Interesting coincidence! Lots of transplants up here!!

Peggy